Robert Lacoste

Robert Lacoste (5 July 1898-8 March 1989) was a French politician who served as Governor-General of Algeria from 1956 to 1958 during the Algerian War.

Biography
Robert Lacoste was born in Azerat, Aquitaine, France in 1898, and he participated in the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, he became Minister for Industrial Production under Charles de Gaulle, and he became Minister of Finance and the Economy in 1956. Lacoste was appointed Governor-General of French Algeria in 1956, and he gained a reputation for toughness, being held repsonsible for the official use of a host of ruthless measures (such as torture) against the Algerian FLN nationalists. He went on to serve as Senator for the Dordogne from 1971 to 1980, and he died in 1989.